AGO calls another former IBRA chief

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 09/14/2007 2:36 PM

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The AGO on Thursday questioned former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman I Putu Gede Ary Suta over Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) corruption allegations.

""They want to know how the BLBI initially appeared and how the mechanism of debt in the BLBI program worked,"" Ary Suta told journalists at the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

The BLBI program was established by the government and managed by IBRA to help banks facing difficulties during the Asian monetary crisis in 1998.

IBRA was only able to recover around 20 percent of the Rp 650 trillion (US$69 billion) in liquidity support, of which substantial amounts have yet to be returned.

""I told the interrogator that when I chaired IBRA in 2001, I was assigned to recover Rp 37 trillion of state funds,"" Ary Suta said.

""And in fact, I was able to get back around Rp 40 trillion in 10 months.""

Asked about the sales of state assets below market prices, Ary Suta said the sales had been allowed according to the 1999 government regulation about IBRA.

""We must consider the condition of the state at that time.

""We cannot compare the emergency conditions then with a normal situation.""

But Ary Suta said he was just doing what the government ordered him to do.

""It was all done according to procedures,"" he said.

And if the AGO wanted to prove whether the sales of state assets had been done according to procedures or not, it would have to wait for the audit results from the Supreme Audit Agency, he said.

Director for Investigation at the AGO, Muhammad Salim, said Ary Suta's questioning was part of a general investigation.

""We summoned him because, as a former IBRA chairman, he must have known much about the flow of the BLBI funds managed by the agency,"" Muhammad said.

""But first, we will examine and find the connection between Ary Suta's testimony and Pak Kwik Kian Gie's (former head of the National Development Planning Board) and Pak Syafruddin's (Former IBRA chairman) testimonies,"" he said.

Kwik Kian Gie, who was summoned by the AGO for the third time last week, revealed the names of a number of people involved in the sale of the assets, including former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The AGO said it is considering summoning Megawati, but that no time had been set.

Emerson Yunto from the Indonesian Corruption Watch said the AGO should summon Megawati in her capacity as the decision maker at that time.

""The investigation progress of BLBI cases has moved so slow,"" Emerson said.

""I'm afraid that the government has delayed this case on purpose ... to pursue debtors in order to recover funds that could be used for the 2009 general elections.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.